Good News Sunday: Teachers bring the 'Good News'

This is Good News Sunday, a compilation of some of the more upbeat and inspiring stories published by the Daily Herald during the previous week:

Lombard teachers connect with 'Good News'

One teacher bounces on an exercise ball, another crawls around a homemade tent with her daughter.

A dog does push-ups, a teddy bear makes a special appearance and Spike the Madison Elementary School mascot shares puns on paper during the first episode of "Some Good News With Less Famous People," a pandemic production of two Lombard teachers.

Ryan Kuehne and Tony Melton coordinate to write, shoot and edit the weekly films for the students they've been missing since schools shut down in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goals of the production are lofty, as Kuehne, a physical education teacher, says in the introduction to the first episode: "To share good news, spread positive vibes, smile and laugh and, most importantly, bring our Madison community together during these different times."

The idea came from actor John Krasinski and the "Some Good News" videos he started posting on YouTube during the pandemic.

For the full story, click here.

One Ninja moves to finals, second awaits turn

Owen Pham enjoyed an early birthday celebration recently.

The Arlington Heights boy, who turned 11 on Tuesday, advanced to the final of "American Ninja Warrior Junior" in the episode broadcast the previous Friday on the Universal Kids network.

Although the competition was filmed in July in California, Pham and his immediate family are sworn to secrecy about the results until after each episode airs. He'll need to keep his secret a little longer because his final episode will be broadcast June 12.

"It's going to be fun still, I hope," said Owen, who competed in the 9-to-10 age group. "I'm just telling people to keep watching."

Emerson Smith, 13, of Wheaton made her debut on Friday in the 11-to-12 age group. The Franklin Middle School student had her birthday after the July filming, which is why she competed in the younger group.

"I've been smiling a lot this week," Emerson said. "I'm just so excited to watch the episode on Friday."

For the full story, click here.

Wauconda man accepts dares to raise money

A Wauconda resident who was laid off because of the COVID-19 crisis is using his downtime to raise revenue for local restaurants and nonprofit groups.

Once or twice a week, Kevin Delaney goes live on his Facebook page, facebook.com/kevin.delaney.12, and completes often-silly challenges submitted by friends, relatives and strangers.

"I have shaved a leg, and I painted my toenails," said Delaney, 52, who lost his job as a sales representative for a Wheeling marketing and printing company in March. "I shaved my head live on Facebook."

Delaney said he's collected more than $7,300, so far.

"I can't believe we have raised as much as we have," he said.

For the full story, click here.

Barrington soccer gets kick out of raising money

Roman Booker gets a kick out of soccer.

Last weekend, he got more than 20,000 kicks, all of them for a good cause.

Inspired by Captain Thomas Moore, a 100-year-old former British Army officer who was raising money for COVID-19 relief, Roman, 10, of Barrington, thought he could use his soccer skills to help people close to home.

"I'm raising money for the health care workers and the families in need," said Roman, a fourth-grader at Grove Avenue Elementary School in Barrington.

Roman crushed his original fundraising goal of $1,000 for the organization Feeding America and the doctors and nurses at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Lake Barrington. He's now well over $2,000 for those organizations and has raised more than $1,000 for a similar organization in Great Britain, where he and his family lived until five years ago.

If you'd like to contribute to Roman's kicks, visit www.gofundme.com/f/kick-ups-for-covid-19.

For the full story, click here.

Morton Arboretum to phase reopening June 1

The Morton Arboretum in Lisle is planning to begin a phased reopening for members only from June 1 through 14, officials announced Tuesday.

The museum's newest outdoor art installation, Human+Nature, has been rescheduled to open April 9, 2021, due to the pandemic. The six troll sculptures in the arboretum's Troll Hunt exhibition, which was scheduled to close in June.

The arboretum's special events and educational programs originally scheduled for June have been canceled or moved to an online format.

Safety procedures will be in place to pace entry to the arboretum and enforce social distancing requirements. Members must make advance reservations online for timed-entry passes.

For the full story, click here.

• Good News Sunday will run each weekend. Visit dailyherald.com/newsletters to sign up for our Good News Sunday newsletter.